The present invention relates to a connector connectable to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC).
For example, this type of connector is disclosed in JP-A 2004-127558, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The connector disclosed in JP-A 2004-127558 is used for a connection target of an FPC having connection portions formed on both surfaces thereof. The connector has a housing, an actuator, first contacts and second contacts, wherein the actuator is turnably held on the housing, the first contacts are brought into contact with the connection portion formed on the front face of the FPC, and the second contacts are brought into contact with the connection portion formed on the rear face of the FPC. Each of the first contacts includes a contacting section and a press section, wherein the contacting section is provided on a front end while the press section is provided on a rear end. Furthermore, the first contacts are held on the housing so that the contacting sections are moved toward the connection portion formed on the front face of the FPC when the press sections are pushed upward by pushers of the actuator. In other words, the first contacts operate like a seesaw.
In the connector disclosed in JP-A 2004-127558, the FPC is held by the contacting sections of the first contacts and the contacting sections of the second contacts. With this configuration, the contacting sections of the first contacts and the contacting sections of the second contacts are brought into contact with the connection portions formed on both surfaces of the FPC. Therefore, the contacting sections of the first contacts and the contacting sections of the second contacts are alternately arranged in a pitch direction thereof. See, e.g., paragraph [0017] of JP-A 2004-127558. Specifically, in order to arrange one of the first contacts and the second contacts, attention should be paid to arrangement of the other contacts in the connector of JP-A 2004-127558. Thus, those contacts have a low degree of flexibility in arrangement.